I listened to the Writing Excuses podcast this week about Alpha readers as I'm doing final copyedits to the Galley pages of Cargon. I wish I'd gotten more people to read the full manuscript. Several people read the 10K word excerpt that I entered in Jennifer McBay Barry's Keys to the Kingdom Contest, and I received great response on it, but as I put the final touches on it, I feel tentative.
I imagine this is probably common among writers. You fuss and muss and pull here, push there, never quite finishing with that document. Yet, the time comes when you can't make major changes anymore.
I'm flashing back to my high school days where I could edit the point right out of my essay. Tack enough bells and whistles onto my science project that the experiment got lost. Change enough that nothing of the base remains and the house of cards falls.
I have to step back and let it stand - wobbly, but standing - and let it go. I'm nearly there. I'm still second-guessing myself, but I'm nearly there. She's shaking less than I expected.
Anyone else have this problem? Am I right that it's not uncommon? Or am I the only author who wonders if they're cutting the cord too soon?
I think this is very common. I have found myself going to bed at night full of optimism over how a manuscript is progressing and then waking up thinking, "Who is going to read this nonsense?" Then, mid-story, I go back and edit, adding an extra physical trait to a character, deleting this or that. Then after giving both versions to a reader, most indicate that the changes made little difference. I have no deep insight, but I see it as a positive. I see it as you wanting to put out a good story.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly how you feel. I'm wading in my own self doubt right now. The feeling that, no matter how much I tweak it, it'll never be good enough, is the theme lately.
ReplyDeleteI propose we buckle down, chin up, and I promise to get that story to you in one weeks time? (Wednesday, April 27th). There, I've set a deadline for myself.
Your turn!
I really resonated with these words:
ReplyDelete"...I could edit the point right out of my essay. Tack enough bells and whistles onto my science project that the experiment got lost. Change enough that nothing of the base remains and the house of cards falls."
Off to add your site to my Blogroll:
http://nfaa.wordpress.com
I worry the entire time. The anxiousness comes in right when I'm finishing the book. I run through each edit(about 3) and each time the anxiety grows more and more. Then with each read I'm saying, "This is crap and no one will want to read it." but I try to push past that, and tell myself that every author has said this at some point in their writing career.
ReplyDeleteYes, what a problem! I'm 8 edits through my MS and still find things to change. I've accepted that I'll never be finished tweaking, and I expect to keep at it until I find an agent to cuff me to a chair.
ReplyDelete